The Glass Coffin
Never tell a body that a tailor cannot travel far, and arrive at as high an honour as he chooses. Nothing more is necessary than that he should go to the right spot, and what is of most consequence, that he should have good luck.
Such a clever and nimble Tailor’s lad went out once upon his wanderings, and came to a great forest, in which, because he did not know the road, he lost his way. Night overtook him, and there was nothing else for him to do but to seek a bed in this frightful solitude. He could have easily made a good bed on the soft moss, had he not been afraid of the wild beasts, the thought of which disquieted him so much that he resolved at length to pass the night on a tree. He picked out a lofty oak, to the top of which he climbed, and thanked heaven that he had brought his goose with him, so that the wind which whistled among the trees, could not blow him away. After he had spent some hours in the darkness, not without trembling and shivering, he perceived at a short distance the glimmering of a candle, and thinking that it might be the habitation of some man, where he could find a better resting-place than on the boughs of his trees, he cautiously descended, and walked towards the light. Presently he came to a little hut, built of reeds and rushes, and, knocking boldly at the door, which opened of itself, he saw inside a very old grey-headed man, dressed in a frock made of various coloured rags. “Who are you, and what do you want?” asked this figure in a hoarse voice.
“I am a poor Tailor,” he replied, “surprised by night in this forest, and I pray you earnestly to keep me in your hut till the morning.” “Go your way,” cried the Old Man peevishly; “I will have nothing to do with vagabonds, seek a welcome elsewhere;” and so saying he would have pushed the man out of the house. The Tailor, however, caught hold of his coat, and begged so earnestly, that the Old Man, who seemed much rougher than he really was, yielded at length, and took the Tailor into his hut, where he gave him something to eat, and then showed him a bed in a corner.
The weary Tailor needed no rocking, but slept soundly till morning, and even then he would not have got up had he not been aroused by a loud cry. A terrible screaming and moaning pierced through the thin walls of the cottage, and the Tailor, excited by an unusual courage, jumped up, and, drawing his clothes on hastily, went out. Then he saw near the cottage a great black beast and a pretty Goat engaged in a hot contest. They were butting at one another with so much fury that the ground trembled under their feet, and the air resounded with their cries. For some time it was uncertain which would gain the victory; but at last the Goat thrust his horns into his enemy’s body with so much force that the latter fell to the ground with a fearful howl, and was soon despatched with a stroke or two more on the part of the Goat.
The Tailor, who had watched the fight with astonishment, was still standing by at its close, and as soon as the Goat perceived him, it rushed at him, and, catching him up on its horns before he could escape, bolted away with him over hedge and ditch, hill and valley, meadow and wood. He held fast to the horns with both his hands (for he had managed to get on the goat’s back), and resigned himself to his fate; but it came sooner than he expected, for at last the Goat stopped before a ridge of rocks, and let the Tailor softly down to the ground. More dead than alive, he lay for a long time before he recovered his senses, and when he did so, the Goat, which had remained by him all the time, thrust his horns with such force into a seeming door in the rock that it split open. Flames of fire came out, and presently a great smoke followed which hid the Goat from the eyes of the Tailor, who now knew not what to do, nor where to turn to get out of the wilderness. While he stood considering, a voice came from the rock, which said, “Step in hither without fear, and no harm shall happen to you.” The Tailor hesitated; but drawn by an invisible power, he obeyed the voice, and, passing through the iron door, he found himself in an immense hall, whose roof, walls and floor were formed of bright and polished square stones, on each of which characters unknown to him were engraved. He observed everything with wonder, and was on the point of making his way out again, when the voice said, “Step upon the stone which lies in the middle of the hall, and there await your fate.”
The Tailor’s courage was up now, and he walked to the spot indicated, and presently the stone gave way beneath him, and sank slowly deeper and deeper. When it stopped, and the Tailor looked about him, he saw another large chamber like the first in extent, but there was much more to attract his attention and wonder. In the walls were cut recesses, in which stood vessels of clear glass, some filled with coloured fluids, and others with a bluish smoke. On the ground of the hall stood, opposite each other, two great glass chests, which at once excited his wonder. He stepped up to them, and found that one contained a handsome building similar to a castle, with farm buildings, stables, and outhouses attached, and surrounded by all other necessaries. Everything was diminutive, but made so carefully and delicately that it must have been executed with the greatest ingenuity by a cunning workman. The Tailor could scarcely take his eyes away from this curiosity, but the voice warned him to desist, and to look instead at what was contained in the other glass chest. To what a pitch was his wonder raised when he perceived in it a beautiful Maiden lying fast asleep, and enveloped from head to foot with her own yellow hair. Her eyes were fast closed, but the fresh colour of her cheeks, and the motion of a riband to and fro, which swayed with her breath, left no doubts as to her being alive. The Tailor looked at her with a beating heart, and all at once she opened her eyes and closed them again with a joyful cry. When she saw him, “Just heaven!” she exclaimed, “my liberty approaches! Quick, quick, help me out of my prison; push back the bolt of my glass cage, and I am free!”
The Tailor obeyed without trembling, and as soon as he raised the glass lid, the Maiden stepped out and hastened to one corner of the hall, where she wrapped herself in a large cloak. Then she sat down upon a stone, and, calling the young Tailor to her, gave him a friendly kiss, and then said, “My long-desired deliverer! a gracious heaven has led you hither to put an end to my sorrows. On the same day that they end, your good fortune shall begin. You are my husband, chosen by heaven, and you shall spend your life in undisturbed peace, beloved by me, and endowed with all my earthly riches. Sit down, now, and hear the history of my misfortunes.
“I am the daughter of a rich Count. My parents died when I was yet in tender childhood, and delivered me as their last request to the care of my elder Brother, by whom I was to be educated. We loved each other dearly, and we were so of one mind in our ways of thinking and acting, that we both resolved to remain single, and live together to the end of our lives. In our house there was never any lack of company; neighbours and friends visited us constantly, and we exercised towards all the greatest possible hospitality. Thus it happened that one evening a Stranger rode into our castle yard under the pretext of not being able to reach the next town, and requested shelter. We treated his request with our usual courtesy, and he entertained us for the rest of that evening with his conversations and relations of his various adventures. My Brother even took such a fancy to him that he pressed him to stay for a couple of days, to which he consented after some hesitation. Late at night we arose from table, and after the Stranger had been shown to his apartment, I hastened, weary as I was, to lay myself down on the soft feathers of my bed. I had scarcely dropped asleep when I heard the tones of a delicious strain of music. I could not conceive from whence it proceeded, and I resolved to summon my chambermaid, who slept in the adjoining room. To my astonishment it seemed as if a mountain were laid upon my breast, and all power of speech was so taken away from me by some invisible means, that I was unable to utter a single word. Meanwhile, I saw, by the shining of the lamp, the Stranger step into my room through two doors which I supposed were fast closed. He approached me, and said that by the aid of enchantments which were at his service he had caused the notes of the music which had awakened me, and that now he was come at all risks to offer me his heart and hand. My indignation, however, at his enchantments was so great that I deigned no answer to him; and for a long time he remained immovable before me, apparently waiting my favourable decision. As I continued silent, however, he declared passionately that he would revenge himself, and find some means to punish my haughtiness; and so saying he quitted my room. I passed the rest of the night in the greatest anxiety and did not sleep till morning, and then as soon as I awoke I hastened to my Brother to tell him of what had happened to me, but I found him not in his room, and the servants told me that he had ridden out to hunt with the Stranger at daybreak.
“This foreboded no good to me. I dressed myself quickly, caused my palfrey to be saddled, and rode, attended only by one servant, at full gallop into the forest. On our way the servant let his horse fall and broke his knees, so that he was unable to follow me; but I continued without a stoppage to hurry on, and in a few minutes I saw the Stranger leading a Goat by a string coming towards me. I asked him where he had left my Brother, and how he had come by the Goat, from whose large eyes tears were streaming. Instead of answering me he began to laugh loudly; and thereupon I became very angry, and, drawing a pistol, fired it at the monster; but the ball rebounded from his breast and pierced the head of my horse. I was thrown to the ground, and the stranger murmured some words which deprived me of sensibility.
“When I recovered again the use of my faculties, I found myself enclosed in a glass coffin, in this subterranean chamber. The black Magician appeared once more, and told me he had changed my Brother into a Goat, enclosed my castle with all its surrounding buildings in another glass case, and shut up my people in the form of smoke in glass bottles. If I were willing, he said, to fulfill his wishes now, nothing was easier for him than to put things in their previous position; he need only to open the cases and everything would return to its natural shape. I answered him, however, as little as before, and he disappeared, leaving me lying in my glass prison-house, where I presently fell into a deep sleep. Among the visions which then came across my dreams was the consoling one that a youth came and delivered me; and when I opened my eyes today, I saw you, and knew my dream was fulfilled. Help me now to complete what I then dreamed. The first thing is to raise this glass chest which contains my castle, and place it on that wide stone.”
As soon as the stone was thus laden it began to rise, carrying with it the Maiden and the Tailor; and at length it passed through the floor of the upper room, and from thence they quickly came into the open air. Here the Maiden raised the lid of the case, and it was wonderful to see how, immediately, castle, farm, buildings, stables, &c., unfolded themselves, and grew with marvellous rapidity to their natural size. Thereupon the Maiden and the Tailor turned back into the subterraneous cave, and caused the stone to raise with them the bottles filled with smoke. Scarcely were they opened, when the blue smoke pressed out and assumed the form of men, whom the Maiden recognised as her servants and attendants. Their joy at this recognition was still further increased when the Brother, whom the Enchanter had changed into a Goat, appeared, coming out of the wood, in his natural form; and the Maiden, in the excess of her joy, gave her hand to the lucky Tailor on the very same day.
